Dr Christopher McCorkindale

Reader

Law

Contact

Back to staff profile

Personal statement

I joined Strathclyde Law School in June 2012, having held a lectureship at Glasgow Caledonian University since 2009.

At the Law School I teach across the full range of our public law classes: Constitutional Law (level 1), Administrative Law (level 2), Constitutional Law honours and Administrative Law honours.

My teaching reflects my research interests in constitutional and administrative law (with a focus on devolution and constitutional law in the UK and on Scotland's constitutional future), history (in particular the history of the UK's so-called political constitution), and theory (with an interest in the many, varied but scattered contributions by Hannah Arendt to legal debate). I would be delighted to hear from potential PhD students with interests in any of these (or other public law) areas.

In addition to teaching and research I am the Law School's Director of Student Wellbeing and Widening Participation, with responsibility for pastoral support within the Law School and for the experience of students who fall within the University's widening access policies on to, through and out of our various LLB degree options.

I am an adviser to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament, the public law analysis editor of the Edinburgh Law Review and a steering group member of the Scottish Public Law Group.

Back to staff profile

Teaching

I primarily teach across our core public law modules, Constitutional Law (level 1) and Adminisrrative Law and Fundamental Rights (level 2) as well as their honours equivalents Constitutional Law and Administrative Law.

In addition I have taught on Terrorism and the Law (hons), Legal Methods (level 1) and, somewhat implausibly, Property, Trusts and Success (level 2).

Back to staff profile

Research Interests

My research touches on the constitutional law, theory and history of Scotland and the United Kingdom. I have published on the United Kingdom's (so-called) 'political' constitution, as well as on various aspects of the law and politics of devolution, Brexit and Scottish independence. I am currently conducting a major empirical examination of the processes by which Bills in the devolved legislatures are vetted for legislative competence, alongside Prof Janet Hiebert (Queen's University, Canada) and Prof Jim Kelly (Concordia); a BA/Leverhulme funded review of legislative consent dynamics since Brexit with Prof Aileen McHarg (Durham); and, a Clark Foundation funded review of judicial review in Scotland with Prof Aileen McHarg (Durham) and Prof Tom Mullen (Glasgow).

In addition, I have an interest in legal theory and its impact on constitutional debates. I am particularly interested in the legal and constitutional aspects of the Hannah Arendt's political thought, having completed a PhD on the topic, and published two co-edited collections, Hannah Arendt and the Law (Hart 2012) and Arendt and Law (Routledge 2017).

I would be delighted to hear from prospective PhD students with interests (broadly put) in any of these research areas.

Professional Activities

Beyond The UK Supreme Court judgment on the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill Webinar
Invited speaker
2022
Judicial Review in Times of Crisis
Participant
2022
External examiner
Examiner
2021
External examiner
External Examiner
2021
Standing in Scots public law litigation
Consultant
2020
Strathclyde Law School research seminar series
Participant
5/2019

More professional activities

Projects

The Understanding and Implications of Judicial Review in Scotland
McCorkindale, Christopher (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2026
Legislative Consent After Brexit (CRFG\105967)
McCorkindale, Christopher (Principal Investigator)
16-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2025
Judicial review in Scotland
McCorkindale, Christopher (Principal Investigator) Mullen, Tom (Principal Investigator) McHarg, Aileen (Principal Investigator)
In progress: draft bid written and internally reviewed for submission. Permission granted by Lord President to access court records in order to build and analyse data relating to the use of judicial review (JR by whom, against whom, on what grounds, to what effect, funded how etc).
03-Jan-2022
SRSS Strathclyde Excellence Award PGR Studentship
Cardesa-Salzmann, Antonio (Principal Investigator) McCorkindale, Christopher (Co-investigator) McEntee, Iona (Post Grad Student)
National courts and North-South legal ecumenism. Exploring the role of transnational inter-judicial dialogue between the Global North and the Global South for the promotion of climate justice. PGR Student: Iona McEntee
01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2024
Comparative analysis of widening access student performance on LLB degrees at Strathclyde Law School
McCorkindale, Christopher (Principal Investigator) Kelly, Stuart (Principal Investigator)
Quantitative and qualitative analysis of comparative perfromance by WA and non-WA students on Strathclyde's LLB degrees. Funded jointly by Strathclyde Law School, HaSS and the university's widening access team.
01-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-2024
Vetting Bills for Legislative Competence
McCorkindale, Christopher (Principal Investigator) Hiebert, Janet (Co-investigator)
Empirical (interview) based research with Janet Hiebert (Prof of Political Science at Queen's Univeristy, Canada) exploring the legal and political decision making by officials, political actors and judges that informs decisions as to whether or not bills would be within the legislative competence of the devolved legislatures and therefore become law.
01-Jan-2020

More projects

Back to staff profile

Contact

Dr Christopher McCorkindale
Reader
Law

Email: christopher.mccorkindale@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3384